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DTI analysis

Abstract

Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI) is an MRI modality that is able to quantify the diffusion of water molecules within the tissue. In some cases, this diffusion is isotropic, and the total amount of diffusion can provide very useful information about different pathologies such as liver cirrhosis or brain stroke, among others. In other types of tissues, such as the white matter of the brain, water diffusion is anisotropic, and a more complex description of the diffusion profile is needed. One of the most common approaches to describe anisotropic diffusion is DTI (Diffusion Tensor Imaging).

DTI can be employed to estimate fiber trajectories within the white matter, producing what is known as tractography, to quantify different properties of the brain tissue through different scalar parameters (Fractional Anisotropy, Mean Diffusivity, Radial Diffusivity...), to perform group studies in neurological, neurosurgical and psychiatric pathologies (Alzheimer's disease, migraines, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia...) or as a key component in brain surgical planning.